Canto 9: Liberation | Chapter 19: King Yayāti Achieves Liberation |
Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 9.19.10
tasya tatra dvijaḥ kaścid
ajā-svāmy acchinad ruṣā
lambantaḿ vṛṣaṇaḿ bhūyaḥ
sandadhe 'rthāya yogavit
SYNONYMS
tasya — of the he-goat; tatra — thereupon; dvijaḥ — brāhmaṇa; kaścit — some; ajā-svāmī — the maintainer of another she-goat; acchinat — castrated, made effeminate; ruṣā — out of anger; lambantam — long; vṛṣaṇam — testicles; bhūyaḥ — again; sandadhe — joined; arthāya — for self-interest; yoga-vit — expert in the power of mystic yoga.
TRANSLATION
The she-goat went to the residence of a brāhmaṇa who was the maintainer of another she-goat, and that brāhmaṇa angrily cut off the he-goat's dangling testicles. But at the he-goat's request, the brāhmaṇa later rejoined them by the power of mystic yoga.
PURPORT
Here Śukrācārya is figuratively described as the husband of another she-goat. This indicates that the relationship between husband and wife in any society, whether higher or lower than human society, is nothing but the same relationship between he-goat and she-goat, for the material relationship between man and woman is one of sex. Yan maithunādi-gṛhamedhi-sukhaḿ hi tuccham [SB 7.9.45]. Śukrācārya was an ācārya, or expert, in family affairs, which involve the transfer of semen from he-goat to she-goat, The words kaścid ajā-svāmī expressly indicate herein that Śukrācārya was no better than Yayāti, for both of them were interested in family affairs generated by śukra, or semen. Śukrācārya first cursed Yayāti to become old so that he could no longer indulge in sex, but when Śukrācārya saw that Yayāti's emasculation would make his own daughter a victim of punishment, he used his mystic power to restore Yayāti's masculinity. Because he used his power of mystic yoga for family affairs and not to realize the Supreme Personality of Godhead, this exercise in the magic of yoga was no better than the affairs of he-goats and she-goats. Yogic power should properly be used to realize the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As the Lord Himself recommends in Bhagavad-gītā (6.47):
yoginām api sarveṣāḿ
mad-gatenāntarātmanā
śraddhāvān bhajate yo māḿ
sa me yuktatamo mataḥ
"Of all yogīs, he who always abides in Me with great faith, worshiping Me in transcendental loving service, is most intimately united with Me in yoga and is the highest of all."
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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness